September 28, 2015
Four UW-related books finalists for 2015 Washington Book Awards
Four University of Washington-related books are finalists for 2015 Washington Book Awards. The awards are chosen by the Washington Center for the Book, at the Seattle Public Library.
“Mary Randlett Portraits,” a book of photos of Northwest artists, writers and arts advocates taken by a photographer nearly as well-known as her subjects, was published in September 2014 by University of Washington Press. The text was written by Frances McCue, a senior lecturer with the UW English Department and writer in residence with the Honors Program.
“Trying Home: The Rise and Fall of an Anarchist Utopia on Puget Sound” by Justin Wadland tells the story of the anarchist community that existed in Home, Washington, around the turn of the 20th century. Wadland, a graduate of the UW Information School, oversees media and visual resources for the UW Tacoma Library. The book was published in June 2014 by Oregon University Press.
“My Body Is a Book of Rules” is a memoir by Elissa Washuta that its publisher, Red Hen Press, calls a “self-deprecating and ferocious look at human fallibility.” Washuta is an academic counselor with the UW’s Department of American Indian Studies and an alumna of the English Department’s MFA program in creative writing.
“Mary Randlett Portraits” and “Trying Home” are finalists in the history/general nonfiction category; “My Body is a Book of Rules” is a finalist in the biography/memoir category.
“The Dismal Science,” a novel by Peter Mountford, a UW alumnus, is a finalist in the fiction category.
Formerly called the Governor’s Awards, the Washington State Book Awards are given for fiction, poetry, biography/memoir, history/general nonfiction and children’s books published the previous year. Authors must either have been born in Washington state or be a current resident for at least three years. The Seattle Times has a list of all of this year’s finalists.
The awards will be announced in an event from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 10, in the Seattle Public Library central branch’s Microsoft Auditorium.
